Earlier in the week I was given more free apples than we could eat. And since all of the apples had minor blemishes, I knew we needed to either eat the apples right away or figure out how to preserve them. So I did the first thing that came to mind. I made applesauce. The kids flipped out {apparently it’s been entirely too long since I’ve made fresh applesauce}.
Here is my simple recipe:
Recipe: How to Make Homemade Applesauce
Ingredients
5 – 6 lbs Apples {I used a combination of Cameo, Braeburn, Fuji, Jonagold, Gala, Jonathan and Mcintosh apples}
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of water
Instructions
Wash and quarter apples. Place apples in a 5 quart dutch oven, cover with 1 cup of water. Place lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the apples are soft, remove from heat and process through a food mill. Discard pulp.
Add cinnamon and sugar to warm applesauce {if desired} and stir.
Enjoy!
Notes
Fresh applesauce will keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days. If you don’t think you’ll go through it that fast, you can always freeze it.
Looking for a food mill?
Amazon has the Mirro Foley 2-Quart Stainless Steel Food Mill on sale for $23.68.
Christine says
My family lives for fall apple picking season so we can make bunches and bunches of applesauce using a very similar, easy recipe. Now if I could only figure out how to get some reclaimed produce in the DC area to get us through the other seasons….
Kate in NY says
Mavis, I just stumbled across your blog – I don’t even remember how I found it – but is my new favorite place to visit! Your lifestyle is so inspiring – I love how you get seem to derive more pleasure from your free fruit and a good shopping deal than most people would get out of spending 100X as much (well, 100X zero would still be zero, but you get what I mean).
I am really enjoying reading through all the old posts – and I’m wondering if you have ever written one about your “coupon M.O.,” if you will. I have never been a “couponer” because I always suspected most coupons are for processed foods that I wouldn’t buy anyway. But you seem to feed your family very healthily, and I was literally drooling over your well stocked pantry – – – I have been building a stockpile of basics, but I can see how I could build it far more quickly with coupons, rather than waiting for the weekly sales at my local supermarkets (I am on the east coast, and mostly shop at A&P, Shoprite and Trader Joe’s). If you have written about your approach, maybe you could direct me to that post???
Thanks so much for your wonderful blog and generous posts!
Demarie says
I have enjoyed following you here from Fabulessly Frugal. I have made this before with excess pears, you don’t need sugar because they are sweet on their own, and it’s amazing with a little ginger with your cinnamon.
Mavis says
Thanks for the tip! If I have extra pears I’m going to try this. 🙂
Lindsey says
If you bake, rather than cook the apples, the natural caramelization that occurs at about 375 degrees makes the sauce sweeter, without the addition of sugar. I use my giant turkey pan.
Claire says
I just put a little water in the bottom of the sauce pan ,add cut up apples without skin and cook on low heat. Stir as needed.The longer they cook the smoother the applesauce. I add cinnamon at the end.
Katie K. says
If you don’t have a food mill:
1) Peel apples
2) Dice apples
3) Cook apples on low with spices you like; longer = smoother sauce
Tara says
I get several bushels of apples every year and always make applesauce. I can mine so I have applesauce year round. I also use about 1/8 cup of brown sugar instead of white sugar as it adds a more complex sweetness my family likes. To process the jars I use the water bath method and process for 15 minutes.